Surveillance drones to be deployed to help ground forces

The army will deploy surveillance drones in the Deep South in 2018 fiscal year, Deputy Defence Minister Udomdej Seetabutr said Wednesday (Oct 18).

Gen Udomdej said that the army planned to deploy 3-4 surveillance drones in each of the 37 districts in the restive region, with drones to be launched to survey routes ahead of the deployment of ground forces on patrol missions to prevent ambushes after roadside attacks.

Gen Udomdej

As for the 2018 fiscal year which began on Oct 1, he disclosed that the government had allocated altogether 13,255 million baht for the implementation of 78 projects and 85 activities in the four southernmost provinces of Songkhla, Pattani, Narathiwat, and Yala.

The budget is broken down as follows: 6,115 million baht for security maintenance and public safety; 907 milllion baht for justice-related work and rehabilitation for people affected by violence; 428 million baht for enhancing public understanding and improvement of human rights; 2,570 million baht for education, religious and cultural works; 2,080 million baht for quality of life improvement and 1,068 million baht for the improvement of the efficiency of government sector and policy steering work.